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(No Model.) i 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. H. SAWYER.

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC CIRCUITOPENER.

No. 279,023. Patented June 5,1883.

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N. PETERS. Pnnm-Limo n hu, Washingion. n. C.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.) W. H. SAWYER.

/ AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC CIRCUIT OPENER.

No. 279,023. I Patented June 5,1883,

N. PETERS. Phuw-Lnhn hnr. Washington. 11c.

(No Model.) v 4 Sh eets-Sheet 3.

W. H. SAWYER.

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC CIRCUIT OPENER. 3- Patented June 5,1888.

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'(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet W. H. SAWYER.

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC CIRCUIT OPENER. No. 279,023. Patented June 5,1883.

U ITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

\VILLIAM H. SAVVYER, OF PROV IDEN GE, tHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO EUGENE-F. PHILLIPS, OF SAME PLACE.

'5 "AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC-CIRCUIT OPENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 279,023, dated June 5,1883, Application fill'fl Septcmherltl, 18H). (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, XVILLIA l\[ H. Sawr'nn, acitizen of the United States, residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Electric-Circuit Openers; and I do hereby de-' clare the following to he a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, an d to letters or figures of reference marked there on, which form a part of this specification. I

This invention relates to automatic circuitopeners particularly adapted for use in con- ,neetion with systems of gas-lighting by electricity, wherein the gas is lighted by a spark from a galvanic battery and a spark-eoil. It is also applicable to other systems of electric circuits. Its object is to provide a means for automatically opening the circuit of a battery, or for disconnecting one or more circuits which are in connection with a battery, when from any cause such battery or circuits remain closed longer than it is necessary to light the gas. There are several systems of electric lighting in which the operation of turning on the gas and the production of an electric spark are simultaneous. In one of these systems the gas-cock attached to the fixture is rotated by means of a' ratchet and pawl operated byv a lever to which is attached a short length of metal chain. The gas-cock also carries another lever which, forms a movable electrode in connection with the source of electricity, a fixed electrode being fastened to the tip of the burner in such relation to the orifice that when the gas is turned on the movable electrode will approach, make momentary contact with the fixed electrode, and then pass beyond it. At

this point'the spark is produced and the gas is ignited. For the purpose of producing the spark the Leclanch or other open circuitbattery is generally used, which, though admirably adapted-for the purpose, as long as the circuit or circuits are closed but momentarily, as when used to light the gas, yet when the circuit is closed for a long time quickly pola'rizes and is rendered unfit for further service. It frequently happens, through accident or design, that the metal chain which 'is used to operate the gas-cock mechanism is thrown over the burner, and a contact made between it and the fixed el cot-rode, thus putting the battery on short circuit, or through defective mechanical construction the movable electrode fails to return. to its normal position after making contact with the fixed electrode and remaining in contact therewith, the battery-circuit is closed; or in the system of circuit-wires which are connected to the different burners connection is often made between one circuit and the return wire of the system, (which is generally the system. of gas or water pipes located in the buildingQ'and in this way the battery may be short-circuited.

My invention consists ot'mechanism, herein placed in the circuit, preferably near the battery, and which, whenever the circuit is closed in the operation of lighting the gas, is momen tarily actuated; but the complete action of the apparatus is not attained until the circuit has been closed a definite length of time.

low a margin of thirty or forty seconds of time for the closing of the circuit; but if it remains closed longer than this time the mechanism will continue in operation and cause the circuit to be opened, and it will remain open until the cause of the interruption has been removed, after which the apparatus can be restored to its normal condition in. readiness for further similar duty.

In the practical operation of the various sys tems as many as fifty circuits, each one comprising a number of burners, are often established, these circuits drawing their electrical one of them short-circuit the batter T the other circuits would be rendered inoperative. By my invention I am enabled to open. and throw out of the system one or more circuits when they remain closed longer than a fixed time, thus permitting the remaining circuits to be operated without being affected by the defect ive ones.

In the drawings accompanying this specifi' cation, Figure'l is front elevation of my inaftcr more particularly described, which is In practice the apparatus is adjusted to 211-.

energy from the same source, and should any" vention, partly in section. Fig. 2 is a top view. Fig. 3 is a plan view below the dotted line :L' a, Fig. 1. Figs. 4, 6, 7, and 8 are views of modifications. Fig. is a detail view.

The letter A indicates a time mechanism, and A a spring-motor, both of which are secured to a base, A-', the motor being placed on its side, or with its wheels revolving in horizontal planes, in order that the central shaft, may occupy a vertical position.

Fixed upon the shaft of the wheel I), which drives the escapementwheel. a of the time mechanism A ,is a worm,l),the thread of which is arranged to receive the turned-down edge 0 of one extremity of the bellcrank lever E, so that the movement of the said worm will cause the levelto move rearmtrdly, as shown in Fig. 5, against the stress of a spring, (j, which is at iached to the prolongation 10* of lever E.

The letter B indicates an clectro-magnet, having its coils connected in multiple are for the purpose of reducing the resistance thereof, said coils being provided with an armature, which is attached to alever, pivoted to a standard at At the free extremity of the lever are fixed two rods, 0 and (1, their free extremities being bent, as shown. The lever C" is also provided with a retractile spring, 0, which is operated by a fii'iger-screw, j". which is secured to a suitable standard. In its normal position of rest the rod 0 is against the under side of the bell-crank lever E, and serves to lift said lever clear of the worm l) against the stress of the retractih-i spring a. The extremity (I? of .rod (1 serves as adctent for the escapement-rod d, and it can be readily perceived that when a current of electricity of suitable strength is passed through the magnet B the lever (1 will be drawn toward the poles of said magnet, and that the detent d" will release the escapement and allow the clockwork to rotate, and at the same time the rod 0 will be drawn downward until the edge 0 of lever E falls into the worm I), the movement of which will carry the said lever rearwardly, as indicated by the arrow, Fig. The motor A has fixed to the central shaft, 0, a wheel, E, Fig. 3, which has a transverse slot, in the periphery thereof, which is adapted to receive a pin, 9*, which is attached to a lever, F, the said lever being pivoted at It and provided at one extremity with a retractile spring, 7:. A short distance from the other extremity, m, of said lever is fixed a pin, 1', which serves as a stop to prevent the vibration of the escapement i" and the consequent movement of the escapement-wheelj and the connected gearing.

livoted to the prolongation E of lever E is a series of levers, I Z, the latter being pivoted.

to an extension of a vertical shaft, F.

Fastencd to the lower end of shaft 1' an arm, in, which engages with the extremity m of lever F, Fig. 3. XVhen the lever E is carried by the worm D to its'full length, the levers Z Z operate to rotate the shaft Z and the arm m, attached thereto, is pressed against the extremity m of lever Ft The latter is moved against the stress of the retractile spring h, and with it the pins '1' and g, the former being released from contact with the escapement i" and the latter being removed from the slot g of wheel E, whereupon the clock-work or time mechanism A will. rotate untilthe lever E returns to its normal position and the pin y" enters the slot which will stop further move ment.

To the upper extremity of the central shaft, (1, is fixed a metal head, j, to which is fastened a platform, Ur, formed of a non-conduct ing material, preferably of vulcanite, to the upper surface of which is fastened an electromagnet, M, having an armature, 1;, which plays upon two guide-pins, n n, which are fixed in the polar extremities of the said mag net, the armature I." bein provided with the usual retractile spring, in".

Fixed to the back of the armature It is a metal rod, 1.", which projects rearwardly through a suitable aperture in the yoke of the electromagnet, and is provided with. a collar, 7;, to limit the forward movement of the armature.

To the edge of platform (i, and on a line with the free end of rod 1.", is fixed a curved projecting metal contact-piece, it, having its free extremity rounded, one terminal of the electro-magnet M being connected thereto by wire 1, the other terminal of said electroanag net being connected to the metal head j of shaft (1 by wire 2.

The platform ('2 and the electro-magnet M, attached thereto, rotate within a concentric frame, H H H, which may be of any suitable non-conductor of electricity, said frame being supported by the standards 1 l 1.

Fixed to the frame H H II is a series of drops, 3 4 6, Fig. 2, which are similar to those commonly known as electrical annnnciator drops or shutters." Each drop, when set, forms a part of the circuit which leads to an independent section of gas-burners. The fiat metal. plate 0, which constitutes the drop, is hinged at p to a suitable bearing, which is fixed to the outer vertical side of the frame H.

The upper edge of plate 0 is provided with a narrow arm, 1), which projects at right angles from said plate, one end of which is formed into a hook, p which engages with a metal standard, g, which is fastened to the upper surface of the frame l-l. One end of a curved spring, q, rests against the inner face of the drop-plate 0, the other extremity of said spring being in metallic connection with the standard q and a flat spring, 1, the latter projecting rearwardly and making metallic contact with metal bracket r, which is fixed to the inner face of the frame H, the said spring rbeing 01' such length as to be in the path of the movable contact-piece )1, attached to platform G, which will force it upward and away from the bracket r, as shown in Fig. 1.

Each instrument is provided with a suitable battery or other source of electricity, K. One pole of this battery is connected to one terlarge electro-ni'agnetfl the" other extremity of a return-wire.

minal of a spark-coil, J, (which is usually a said spark-coil being connected to 'one' terminal of the electro-magnet B bya'wire, 10. The other pole of the battery K is connected. by a wire, 13, to' a gas'pipe, L, which acts as I: The gas-pipe is provided with four burners arranged in two circuits, 4 and 6; Each burnerha's a fixed electrode, w, which is insulated from the burner, and a movable one, t, which is operated by the plug of theburner. As before statedyeach drop or shut ter, when set, forms a part'of the circuit to an independent sectionof'burners, and, as before explained, one terminal-ofthe electro-magnet B is connected to the spark-coil andbattery by wire 10. The other terminal of said mag net is connected to a wire, 7, which. is 'connected to the bracket r of drop 6, and branch wires 8 and 9 of wire 7 are respectively connected to thebracket r of drop 4 and a binding post, s,

which is in metallic connection with the frame of clockwork A; current from the batte'ry'fiows in thedirection indicated by the arrows, 1; After passing through the magnet B, it passes by wires 7 and 8, through bracket '1', spring standard q, spring q, to the drop-plate 0, and

from thence it passes to each of the fixed elec trodes of the burners in each circuit.

In order to light the it is only nec-' essary to turn the gas-cock in the ordinary manner,when the movable electrode is brought into contact with the fixed one, andis then At the time contact is broken an electric spark is produced which will ignite the gas whichfiows from the ori carried beyond it.

fice in the tip. During the time the electrodes were momentarily in contact the cur-' rent flowing through the circuit energized the magnet B, which attracted the armature C, and with it the lever 0". The rods '0 and (I were thus withdrawn, respectively, from coir tact with the lever E and escapement-rod (If,

whereupon the edge 0' of lever E dropped into the worm D, and the release of thee'scapement caused the clock-work or time mechanism A to operate. The clock-work continues to run while the electrodes are in contact; but when they are nolonger together the circuit is opened, and the lever C and its armature 'G and attached rods d and c are drawn upward by the retractilc spring eto their normal position, and'the further movementof the clock-workisstopped. This operation occurs whenever a lamp is lighted o'r extinguished. But supposethat the electrodes of on'e'of the burners in No.4 circuit remained ihcontact'after the gas'was lighted, or that the circuit-wire 11 in its course to the burners of No. 4' circuit came in contact with the re-' turnwire, thus closing the circuit; The magnet B will now continue to'attract the armature O and its lever C theclock-work'inechanism will be'released, the edge e of lever E will drop intothe'thread' of the worm, which carries it rearwardly, thus imparting a motion \Ve will suppose that the release the extremity m of the lever F. 'retractile spring h, attached to said lever, now operates to press the pin against the periphcry of wheel E. After the drop 0 has been tilted 1 ceases.

of burners having been broken, none of the to the prolongation]? of lever E, which is communicated to the levers Z Z and to the shaft 1, the arm on, which is attached to said shaft,

is moved rearwardly, as indicated by dotted lines,.Fig. 3, which causes said arm to press against the extremity m of lever F until the escapement i is relieved of the pressure of pin and the pin is withdrawn from the slot 9 of wheel E, and the automatic spring-motor A is rendered active. The platform G, at--. tached to the-revolving shaft 0, is rotated within the frame H, and at each circuit drop the projection a comes in contact with. and

raises the spring 1* and breaks contact between said spring and the bracket 1-. If the circuit in connection with the drops is open, the magnet M remains inert; but upon reaching the spring r of drop 4 (the circuit through which we will suppose to be closed) the current takes a new route, by wire 9, binding-post s, clock workframe, to shaft 0, metal head j, terminal '2 of electroqnagnet M, through said electromagnet, thence by terminal 1 to curved projection a, spring 1', standard q, and spring q to the drop 0 of circuit No. 4, thence by wire 11 to the burner, and the returirwires L and 13 to the battery. At the instant the current fiows through the clectro-magnet M'the armature k is attracted, and the rod k, attached thereto, is thrown against the hook p of arm p of the drop with such force that the hook is disengaged from the standard q and the drop 0 is tilted over, as shown by the arrow and dotted lines,Fig. 1. This operation opensthe circuit to this sect-ion of burners. Simultaneous with the opening of the circuit the magnet 13 of clockwork A loses its attractive force, the lever, U is drawn upward, whereupon the detent d" is brought in contact with the escapement-rod d, which arrests the clock-work. At the same time the rod 0, striking against the lever E,

raises it and disengages the edge 0 of said lever from the worm D, the said lever being drawn ile spring 9. This movement of the lever causes the arm on, which is attached to shaft Z, to The and the circuit broken the spring-motor A continues to run until the pin 9 drops into the slot of the wheel E,when the movement The electrical circuit to this section burners can therefore be lighted with the spark until the defect in the circuit hasbeen removed, after which the drop can be reset and the electric lighting in this section can be resumed. Thus it will be seen that where a series of independent circuitsare operated from one source of electricity, ifone or more of them by any means become closed longer than a fixed time, I am enabled to automatically throw these defective circuits out of the system, and thereby allow the perfect circuits to beeperated'as usual.

'into its normal position by means of the retract of accomplishing this.

shutter or drop o.

it is highly essential in the systems ol electric gas-lighting to which my invent-ion relates to reduce the resistance of the circuits to the minimum. In Fig. ti is illustrated one method By dispensing with the electro-magnet B of Fig. 'l. and substituting therefor the sparlccoil J, which is provided with an elongated polar extremity, r, I am en abled to provide a very et'teetive apparatus.

It will be readily seen that whenthe circuit is closed through. battery K and coil J' the pole n will attract the armatureC, attached to lever (1, and that the downward movement of the latter will withdraw the detent (F t'rom contact with the escapement-rod17, which will release the time mechanism.

The apparatus hereinbeiore described is more directly adapted for use where a number of circuits are operated by one battery; but where but one circuit is necessary, I use the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 4., wherein the shutter o is pivoted to a metal standard, G", the said shutter being nrovided with two projecting arms, and p", the latter being curved and adapted to rest within a cup, n, which contains a suitable quantity ot'mercury, 11. Fixed to the standard G, but insulated therefrom by an insulating-block, .r, is a spring, 00, having at its upper extremity an angular projection, upon which the projection w rests. The circuit from the battery K passes by wire 10" to and via the spark-coil J", thence by wire 10 to metal standard 10', thence to spring it" through electro-magneti B, thence by wire 7 to mercarry in cup 11, a branch line, 14, leading to spring 00. Fromthemercury the circuitpz'isses to the arm p shutter o to standard (i and by wire 7" to the insulated tixcd electrodes of each of the burners 1 y y. The retnrn-wire '13 is in metallic connection with the system. of gas pipe L. The armature-lever (l'is pivoted to a standard, f, and to one extremity is attached a detent, 17., and a rod, 0, similar in appearance and operation to (I and 0 of Fig. it. The lever E has a prolongation, 1*). One extremity of said leverhas its edgeturned down and adapted to fit into a worm, (not shown,) but which is lixed to the shaft of escapement-wheel u, the said worm being similar in appearance to that shown in Fig. 5, with this difference, however, that it is reversed from the one shown in Fig. 5, the extremity of lever 16", which carries the ti'u-ned-down edge e, normally resting over the rear of said worm. \Vhen from any cause the circuit remains closed longer than is sutlieient to light a lamp, the electro-magnet B attracts its armature, and with it the lever C, whereupon the detent d releases the es capenient and the meehanisinis started. (Toincident with the starting of the mechanism the edge e of the lever E" falls into the worm, which carries the lever to the bent against the stress of the spiral spring and the prolong-ation E is brought in contact with the The continued :t'orward movement of the levers E and IE will gradually force the drop back until the center of gravity .is passed, when the said drop will tall in, the direction of the arrow, and will as sume a position as shown by dotted lines. The fall of the drop opens the circuit, where upon the levers U and E return to their normal positions and the movement ot'thc clockwork will cease. N one of the luu-ners in this circuit can now be lighted until the defect in the circuit has been removed, after which the drop can be set and the gas lighted by the spark as before. The object:- ot' providing the double contacts between the shutter and the wi re '7namel y, between spring 00 and arm 11;", and between arm 1) and the mertanryin cup n is to insure a good contact and prevent any vibration. Although the contact between 11: and .1 might be broken, yet the arm p will. remain in contact with themercuryuntil the drop begins to tail. The springs in and Ir", Fig. 4,

are tastened to the base A and form part of the circuit to thela-mps. The spring er", at its free end, isbentback insueh manner that when the driving-spring 1r expands to the position shown by dotted lines it will rest against the end 10" and force the spring from contact with in", thereby opening the circuit and preventing the lighting ot' the gas. The object ot'this an rangement is to call attention to the apparatus and cause the rewinding ot' the spring.

It is obvious that the mechanism of clockwork A, Fig. 1, can be started by means or a local. battery in connection with an electiro-magnet operating to withdraw the pin from slot y ol' wheel 1G. in Fig. 8 l have illustrated such an arrangement.

The lever F is pivoted to a standard, Q, and is'providediwith a suitable armature, an electro-maguet, 13", being arranged to attract it. A local battery, KP, has one ol' its poles coir nected to one terminal of electro-magnet 13 by wire 16, the other pole of said battery being connected to a standard, M, by wire 1.6". The

'standard Mhas a. right-angled, extension, it.

The magnet B is connected by wire 15 to a standard, M, to which ispivotedt he bell-crank lever 1G, having the. extension l l The lever 1 similar in construction to that hereinbe- Ltore described, the tree extremity R at which is arranged to drop into the worm i). When the worm I) has been, rotated long enough to carry the tree extremity R to such a distance that the extension. 1*) is brought into metallic contact with the extremity It of standard M, the local circuit bet'ore described is closed and the elect ro-magnet B" is rendered active and the armature end of lever F is drawn down, wherei'qiion the pin 1 is withdrawn from the slot ot" wheel 15 and the mechanism is set in motion, which motion will continue until the local eireuitis opened and the pin again enters the slot 9.

Fig. '7 illustrz'ttes a modification ot' the drop or shutter which torms a part of the circuit to a section of burners. The letter .I'[' designates a frame similar to H, Fig. 1. Two metallic standards, N and l, are fixed, respectively, to the inner and onto r vertical sides of said l'ranle.

IIO

The standard P carries a vertical metal pin, 0 the said pin passing through a knob, the lower half of which, 0, is of metal, and the upper half, R, being of vulcanite. This con stitutes the drop. A fiat spring, N, normally rests against the free end of standard N. A bell-crank lever having extremities O and 0" is pivoted at S, aspira1 spring, S, fixed to said pivot, serving to keepthe end 0 of the lever against the pin 0. To set the drop the knob is drawn upward against the stress of the spiral spring R The metal half 0 will now rest upon the end 0 of the lever. The electric circuit enters at N, passes to spring N, thence to spiral S, bell-crank lever, lower half, 0, of the drop, pin 0 standard P, thence to a suitable wire. vice is similar to that described in connection with the drops illustrated in Fig. 1. The projection a, Fig. 1, strikes the fiat spring A and disconnects it from N, and if a current exists in the circuit attached to this particular drop the rod' is of magnet M will strike against 0 and force 0 from under the drop, which will fall. The end 0 will now rest against the up per half of the knob, which being composed of insulating material, the circuit will be broken.

Having-described my invention, I claim- 1. An electric circuit for lighting gas-burners or similar devices, equipped with a magnet normally out of action, and acting, when energized, as a contact-breaker to permanently break the operative circuit, and with a device arranged in the general circuit and acting by The operation of this de-- work to operate the contact-breaker when the general circuit remains closed longer than a normal period, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with two or more electric circuits and means for closing the same, and circuit-breaking devices arranged therein, of an electro-magnet arranged to act upon said circuit -breaking devices successively, automatic mechanism which connects said electromagnet with said circuits, and a time mechanism controlled by an electro-magnet for starting said connecting mechanism atthe expiration of a predetermined time after the closing of any of said circuits, substantially as de scribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

VILLIAM H. SAXVYER.

\Vitnesses GILMAN E. J OPP, SANFORD C. HOVEY. 

